The following morning I made it into the office at my usual time. Friday is usually when I gather my staff together to review the week’s progress. That Friday was no exception, but I had two appointments scheduled and I needed to take care of them first. I was lucky. One cancelled; the other was a local bail bondsman who wanted to hire us to track down a skip. I told him what I charged. He said it was too expensive and tried to stick me for a professional discount. I told him I only worked for professionals and so didn’t give discounts. I gave him the name of someone I thought might cut him a deal, and he left unhappy, but what can you do?
We gathered around the table in the conference room and they laid it out for me. The weekly report was all routine, soon dealt with and dismissed. Then it was on to more interesting things.
“Tim, what have you been able to find out about Willard, Maxwell, and Falk?”
“Not much about any of them, as yet. Falk does indeed work for Harper, for almost five years, mostly as his speechwriter, but I have the feeling that there’s more to it than that. He was dating Tabitha Willard on and off for more than a year. His financials suck. He has two bank accounts and is overdrawn on both of them. His credit rating is in the toilet. He seems to have gone AWOL. Not been seen for almost a week. That’s about it. I’ll keep digging. Maybe something will turn up.”
I nodded. “And Tabitha?”
“She’s an enigma. No visible means of support, other than her allowance from Old Man Willard. No job that I could find.”
“Hold on,” I said. “I was told by her father, and by Charlie Maxwell, that she was in public relations.”
Tim grinned at me across the table. “Whatever that means. I couldn’t find any record of any documented employment for more than a year, but get this: she has almost eighty grand in a savings account and another $11,832 in her checking account.”
I shook my head. “How?”
“Dunno. She made regular deposits every week, sometimes more than one. If she’s in public relations, you have to ask yourself what kind… if you get my drift.”
“Hooker.” I didn’t like to say it, but…
He looked at me and shrugged.
“As to Charlie Maxwell,” Tim continued, “you said she was in computers—IT—and she is. She’s employed by a local branch of an outfit based in New York. She makes good money and has a tidy sum in her savings account, a little more than $37,000, which seems to be about right, considering her income. Her credit is good. She has quite a mortgage on her home—$1,820 monthly—but she can afford it.
“As far as I can tell, she keeps mostly to herself. She has no boyfriends that I could find, and very few girlfriends either. She works five days a week. Takes vacations twice a year, usually in the Bahamas but not always. She doesn’t drink or do drugs—she has no criminal record. She’s clean, Harry.”
“That’s all good, Tim, but keep digging, especially into Willard. I want to know where that money came from.”
He nodded.
“Ronnie, Mike. What were you able to come up with on Harper’s Foundation?”
“More than I’m ready to say, right now,” Ronnie said. “It’s complicated. Can you give me a few more days to tie it all together?”
“Yes, but don’t take too long. This is taking a lot more time than I thought it would. We still have a lot of questions and not many answers. I don’t want to waste any more of Dr. Willard’s retainer than I have to.” I smiled. “Okay. Good work, people. Keep it up. Jacque. Do you have anything for me?”
She looked at me long and hard. “I think you should seriously consider the request from Amanda Cole at Channel Seven.”
I shook my head. “I don’t like that woman. She wields a hatchet, and she used it on me last time I talked to her. I swore I would never again give her the time of day.”
Jacque gave me another look.
“Okay, okay,” I said, “I’ll think about it. But not right now.”
Amanda Cole? Screw her.
By the time I was done, it was almost noon. It was Friday. I was out of there. Lunch at the club with my father, then home for the afternoon. Maybe I’d go out for the evening. Maybe not. Kate was on duty, so if I did, it would have to be by myself.